This is a discussion on WRC Acropolis/Greece June 16-19 talk/results spoiler** within the Motorsports Talk forums, part of the Community - Meet other Enthusiasts category; Round 7:
Searing ambient temperatures, rocky, undulating roads and dust combine to make Acropolis Rally of Greece one of the ...

WRC Acropolis/Greece June 16-19 talk/results spoiler**

Round 7:

Searing ambient temperatures, rocky, undulating roads and dust combine to make Acropolis Rally of Greece one of the most taxing on the World Rally Championship calendar with car and driver subjected to a particularly stern test.

Greece missed out on a slot on the 2010 WRC schedule and its absence was keenly felt, not just by the fans that descend on the event in great number, but also by the drivers. The Acropolis is one of the most iconic events in the sport and winning it earns significant kudos.

Sebastien Loeb has set the pace in shakedown for the Acropolis Rally, which gets underway with the first of 18 special stages tomorrow (Friday).

Driving a Citroen DS3 WRC, the seven-time world champion recorded a fastest time of 2m15.5s over the 6.05-kilometre practice stage east of the permanent service park in Loutraki.

Overnight rain created a muddy surface but the conditions soon improved as the ambient temperature rose and the road dried out.

Afterwards Loeb, who currently tops the World Rally Championship by 13 points, said: “Like every rally I hope to be able to fight for the victory. But for sure it’s more important to score some points. I’m in a good position in the championship and it’s important not to loose too much. For the rest we will see.

“It’s a rough rally, difficult for the tyres and suspension, and maybe the hardest rally of the season for the cars. We have to take care a bit in some places but when you are fighting for the second you can’t loose too much.”

“What we saw in recce is that it will be a disadvantage to be first on the road. But now it has been raining since the recce I don’t know for tomorrow.”

Petter Solberg was second fastest behind Loeb in his privately-entered DS3 WRC. The Norwegian set his best time on his fifth and final run, seven-tenths of a second slower than Loeb, after changing his car’s suspension dampers following his second run.

Mikko Hirvonen was the leading Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver in third with Loeb’s Citroen team-mate Sebastien Ogier fourth.

Henning Solberg, absent on the previous round in Argentina, made the most of the running time to experiment with the set-up of his Fiesta, completing a total of eight runs alongside co-driver Ilka Minor. He ended up fifth fastest, one place ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, who returns to the WRC for the first time since the Jordan Rally in mid-April.

Local hero Lambros Athanassoulas used the shakedown to drive his Team Greece-entered Ford Fiesta RS WRC in anger for the first time. He said: “We made adjustments to the rear suspension. I was feeling confident in the car but we were losing a lot of time because I am still learning the car.”

MINI John Cooper Works WRC driver Armindo Araujo hit trouble in shakedown when he was forced to stop in the stage with broken front suspension.

Following the spectacular ceremonial start at the famous Acropolis in Athens on Thursday evening, the Acropolis Rally kicked off with the 23.60-kilometre Thiva stage north-east of the event base in Loutraki this morning.

Petter Solberg was fastest through the test in his privately entered Citroen DS3 WRC to open up a narrow lead of 0.5s over factory Ford Fiesta RS WRC pilot Jari-Matti Latvala.

“It’s a good start,” said Norwegian Solberg. “I’m not perfectly happy with everything but I know what to do in service to get things even better.”

Latvala said: “It was quite a good start but there were a couple of places where I made little mistakes I can improve on the second run. I can see the line on the road was starting to clean.”

Petter Solberg has extended his lead of the Acropolis Rally by recording his third consecutive fastest stage time in his Citroen DS3 WRC.

The Norwegian, running fifth on the road, completed the 18.10-kilometre Eleftherohori stage 3.3s faster than World Rally Championship leader Sebastien Loeb. As a result he grows his overall advantage to 27.2s.

Norwegian ace Petter Solberg continues to lead the Acropolis Rally following his fourth stage victory.

The Citroen DS3 WRC driver’s overall advantage now stands at 28.6s with two stages of day one remaining.

“The car is not as good as this morning I must say, it’s a small detail I did on service, but it should be better later or tomorrow,” said Solberg. “I am here to fight, I am not here to play the game of starting position.”

Starting position does put him at a disadvantage though. Today is usually when things start going wrong for lots of crews, we'll see.

WRX Info Links, Courtesy TheJMan is a brute.... If you're cruel to him, he respects and fears you. If you're kind to him, he plucks your eyes out. Alexis ZorbasI lied. I cheated. I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all... I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again - I would. Benjamin Sisko
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed are the author's alone and are inherently worthless.

Any gravel rally is a scene for tactics, soon they will all start to slow down and try to get a better starting position the next day. Second day is when we see Solberg starting to flop. Since 2010 Mexico he had a bunch of chances to do good tactics, nothing payed off better than second place yet. He's been stuck on 13 rally wins since 2005.

Sebastien Ogier has jumped from fifth to third in the overall standings after winning his first stage on the Acropolis Rally.

The Citroen Total World Rally Team star was 1.4s faster than Petter Solberg to end the Norwegian’s run of stage victories.

“It was more easy for me to push as this was the second time through the stage,” said Ogier. “But there is so much loose gravel on the next one so I don’t know what will happen.”

Solberg reported making a small mistake towards the end of the stage but was otherwise pleased with his performance. “I still did a good time so I’m happy,” said the Citroen privateer who managed to extend his overall lead to 29.2s with one stage of day one remaining.

Sebastien Loeb has rounded out the opening day of the Acropolis Rally by winning stage six in his Citroen DS3 WRC as Mikko Hirvonen and Sebastien Ogier both slowed prior to the stage finish.

Anxious to gain a more advantageous starting position for Saturday’s stages, Hirvonen and Ogier both dropped time on the stage to slip behind Loeb who was running first on the road.

But their hesitation on the stage has ultimately enabled Petter Solberg to extend his overall lead of 51.6s prior to the overnight halt in Loutraki.

“We are second overall but second on the road and very far from Petter in front so it’s a problem,” said Loeb. “Ogier and Hirvonen made some tactics I think.”

Solberg, who has led throughout the day, feared he would lose time stuck behind Jari-Matti Latvala’s slow-moving Ford Fiesta RS WRC, which suffered a front differential failure prior to the stage start.

“I was driving a long, long time behind him,” said Solberg. “He could have stopped before, that was very bad. But the gap is good, I’m happy with that but I still lost time.”

Petter Solberg will start day two of the Acropolis Rally in a commanding lead after reaching Friday's overnight halt in Loutraki with an advantage of 51.6s in his Citroen DS3 WRC.

The Norwegian privateer, who won the day’s first four stages - including a sensational time on stage two when he was 20s faster than his nearest rival - began Friday’s final test 29.2s in front of Jari-Matti Latvala with Sebastien Ogier third and Mikko Hirvonen fourth.

But when Latvala was slowed by a front differential failure and Ogier and Hirvonen both elected to drop time in the stage in order to gain a more advantageous road position for day two by slipping behind Sebastien Loeb, Solberg found himself clear in first place.

“I lost time on the last stage behind Latvala but I’m happy to be leading,” said Solberg. “The gap is good.”

Sebastien Ogier has moved from fourth to second on the Acropolis Rally after winning Saturday’s first stage.

The Citroen driver, running fourth on the road, is now 39.9s behind overnight leader Petter Solberg, who dropped time cleaning the loose surface gravel for the drivers running behind.

“We have to wait all the day but it was not a bad decision [to drop time on Friday and gain a more favourable road position for today],” said Ogier. “Petter is far away in front but there is a long way to go and for sure the road position is a big advantage.”

Ogier, in a works Citroen DS3 WRC, has been fastest on all three stages this morning to cancel out Solberg’s comfortable overnight advantage: “It was a great morning for us, almost perfect,” he said. “I’m happy.”

Petter Solberg has completed the opening loop of three stages on day two of the Acropolis Rally with a lead of 5.4s at the wheel of his privateer Citroen DS3 WRC.

The 36-year-old from Norway started the day with an advantage of 51.6s but the delays caused by running first on the road over the loose surface gravel plus an overshoot on the day’s second stage has dropped him firmly into the clutches of Sebastien Ogier, who impressed by going fastest on all three stages in his factory-entered DS3 WRC.

“It was my own fault when I went on straight on at a junction and Ogier is faster than everybody, that’s how it is,” said Solberg. “It’s not frustrating because I expected to lose this time, except for the overshoot and for Ogier. The road was much more loose than everybody expected so for him it’s a big advantage. I will lose a little bit more this afternoon, there is no doubt so I hope Ogier will be far enough in front to be happy to stay there and then we will see for tomorrow.”

Jari-Matti Latvala has claimed Ford’s first stage win of this year’s Acropolis Rally as Sebastien Ogier moves ahead of Petter Solberg in the battle for world championship glory in Greece.

Solberg started day two leading by 51.6s in his privateer Citroen DS3 WRC but has slipped back to second behind Ogier following the repeated Klenia Mycenae stage. “It definitely cleans a bit and I am losing a bit but I am pushing, trying hard,” said Solberg. “I will do whatever I can to win.”

Sebastien Loeb has demoted Petter Solberg into third place on the Acropolis Rally by winning his second stage of the world championship qualifier.

The seven-time world title winner is now 11.3s behind overall leader and Citroen team-mate Sebastien Ogier with two stages of day two remaining.

“It was very hard for the tyre and we had to push very hard because Ogier is pushing hard,” said Loeb. “I tried to have a good start in the stage and I am happy to be here because this stage was really hard for the suspension and for the tyres.”

Sebastien Ogier has extended his lead of the Acropolis Rally to 15.1s after going fastest through the repeat of the Kefalari stage.

He was 3.8s quicker than Citroen team-mate Sebastien Loeb and admitted to going on maximum attack in his efforts to stay in front. “We tried very hard on this one and the time is not bad,” said Ogier.

Jari-Matti Latvala was second fastest in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC as he continues to recover the time lost earlier in the rally. “It was going alright but it was hard on this stage because I didn’t drive it in the morning at the right pace and I don’t remember where you can go flat out.”

Sebastien Loeb has moved into the lead of the Acropolis Rally following the Nea Politia night stage to bring the second day of the Acropolis Rally to a dramatic close.

World champion Loeb started the stage in second position but moved ahead of Citroen team-mate Sebastien Ogier, who reported losing time in hanging dust.

“I was pushing hard but it was very slippery in some places,” said Loeb, who will run first on the road on the final day. “There was a lot of dust in the start of the stage and I thought I would lose one minute but then it was finished after four kilometres.”

Juho Hanninen is more than three minutes clear of his Super 2000 World Rally Championship rivals heading into the final day of the Acropolis Rally.

The Finn started day two trailing Ott Tanak by almost 30 seconds but moved in front when the Estonian rolled on the day’s first stage and retired.

Bernardo Sousa is second with Tanak’s MM Motorsport team-mate Frigyes Turan third in the overall standings after 13 demanding gravel stages.

“It has not been easy today because when Tanak stopped it was difficult to keep a good rhythm and not make any stupid mistakes,” said Red Bull Skoda driver Hanninen. “I actually had two big moments of my own on that first stage and then we had a problem with the powersteering on the road section after stage nine. We also had some problems with the suspension in the afternoon. This is such a tough rally.”

The Acropolis Rally is set for a thrilling finale on Sunday with the top four drivers covered by a little more than 20 seconds with five stages left to run.

Sebastien Loeb, at the wheel of a Citroen DS3 WRC, holds top spot with team-mate Sebastien Ogier falling to second on the day’s final stage, 2.2s behind the world championship leader. Citroen privateer Petter Solberg is third, 20.9s behind Loeb with Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver Mikko Hirvonen 22.4s adrift of first place.

And so it seems the usual situation is arising. Loeb has come a very long way from being a tarmac specialist. He is very hard to beat on any surface.

WRX Info Links, Courtesy TheJMan is a brute.... If you're cruel to him, he respects and fears you. If you're kind to him, he plucks your eyes out. Alexis ZorbasI lied. I cheated. I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all... I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again - I would. Benjamin Sisko
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed are the author's alone and are inherently worthless.

Sebastien Ogier will take a lead of 10.5s into Acropolis Rally’s event-closing Power Stage after posting a time 4.4s faster than team-mate Sebastien Loeb through the repeat of the 11.37-kilometre New Pissia test.

Third-placed Mikko Hirvonen compounded Loeb’s anguish by narrowing the gap to his world championship title rival to a slender 2.6s by going quicker than both Citroen DS3 WRC drivers in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC. However, the Finn’s gap to Ogier in the overall classification is 13.1s with just four kilometres of stage action remaining.

Sebastien Ogier has ended Sebastien Loeb's run of victories in the world championship by winning the Acropolis Rally.

Ogier, whose last win in the WRC was on the Jordan Rally two months ago, got the better of his Citroen team-mate Loeb following a close battle that raged up until the event-closing Power Stage. Loeb had won the previous two rounds in Argentina and Italy.

It was the third time this season that Ogier, the Junior world champion in 2008, and co-driver Julien Ingrassia have triumphed in the WRC and means that Citroen has now won the last six rounds of the series.

Loeb settled for second - and his 100th WRC podium - in the overall standings with title rival Mikko Hirvonen close behind in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

Sisu is a Finnish word that loosely translates into English as ‘having guts’. On the flat-out, tree-lined straights, endless yumps and blind crests of Neste Oil Rally Finland, drivers will need plenty of ‘sisu’ if they are to stand a chance of winning one of the World Rally Championship’s most famous events.

Known affectionately as the Finnish Grand Prix, the rally turns the student city of Jyvaskyla into a motorsport Mecca on the last weekend of July as fans converge in their tens of thousands to savour the dramatic action on the compacted gravel stages and lap up the party atmosphere.

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